The research organisation put together a committee in the latter part of 2010 led by Adam Phillips of Real Research, and also including Casro’s Peter Milla, Conversition’s Annie Pettit, Virtual Surveys’ Pete Comley, Ipsos Understanding’s Kristin Sharp and Keller Fay’s Ed Keller.

Esomar said that it had “worked closely” with Casro, which launched its own social media task force last September to examine the ethical and methodological issues surrounding the use of user-generated online content from sources such as social networks and blogs for gaining consumer insight.

Announcing the draft guidelines, Esomar said: “Social media research is a hot new technique for gaining insights that has also attracted significant media attention because of consumer concerns that they are being observed or tracked without their knowledge… Whilst regulations in this area are still evolving, this new guideline also outlines the principles underlying laws and regulations presently applicable; especially with respect to data privacy, intellectual property and collecting data from children and young people.”

The period for commenting on the draft guidelines closes on 21 March. Click here to read the full draft and for more information about how to provide feedback.